Arwyl
Arwyl is one of the major continents on the planet of Sprin'Torel. Geography Taking up the Northern half of the Easternmost landmass, Arwyl is known for being one of the most heavily industrialised and populated continents on the entire world. As such, it is home to many of the home bases for the factions and churches, as well as considered the place to go if you yearn to make a name for yourself as quickly as possible. Kamery Kamery is the largest country, not only on Arwyl, but on the entirety of Sprin'Torel, taking up almost the entire Eastern half of Arwyl. Sprawling out to include all of the mountains, to the very Southern tip of the desert, Kamery is perpetually in a state of hustle and bustle, full of cities and towns that never sleep. On Kamery, everything is bigger, even the capital. By every normal standard, Bronzeshire, the capital of Kamery, is extremely large, sitting down on the Western peninsula, sprawling out to the edge of the desert. To say what this capital is home to would create a list that would take weeks to explore, but most famously is Prabhakar Palace, where the Royal Family lives, and The Bazaar, where you can find anything you need at any hour of the day. Given that Kamery is the largest country in the world, it stands to reason that they are the leaders in global trade, working as a centerpoint for trade and innovation. While they do not have too many natural resources of their own given that a large portion of their landmass is desert, the fact that people trade through them means that they have never had a lack of resources for their own needs. As such, they are in an advantageous position when it comes to ability to innovate, having the finances and resources that no other country has. Atral On the Western side of the bay is Atral, stretching out to the marshlands to the West and the forest to the North. Sometimes called The Great Port, Atral is seen as home to not one, but many of the world's busiest ports. As such, the population reflects this, making it home to people from every walk of life. The greatest of these ports, Heartwharf, rests on the southernmost part of the country. This port is one of the busiest in the country, but serves the important part of hosting ambassadors and emissaries on top of the merchants, sailors, and even the occasional pirate. Though this country houses people who may enemies or allies alike, the Crown in charge of Atral made it a point that no conflict is allowed on their shores on fear of exile. Of course, being in charge of this high number of traffic means that Atral never saw much need for anything beyond industrial developments. This meant that even though they have been consistently successful as a country, the people within are usually split into one of three professions - industrial work, the service industry, or some manner of naval work. While some countries tend to look down on this, claiming that Atral would fail immediately if anything were to happen to their ports, Atrallians believe that they have nothing to fear for even a moment, trusting in the Crown to protect them no matter what. Braubar Braubar sits on the Western end of Arwyl, stretching up to the Northwestern edge of the forest. With how close it sits to Atral, many people move between the two countries freely, though the swampland makes their tourism industry much more lacking. On top of that, the predominant citizens in Braubar tend to not only stand out among most crowds, but their physical characteristics make them much more comfortable living in the swampland than other people do, most of them being closer to reptilian than human. A few hundred miles North of the swamp is Falsemire, the capital of Braubar, named after the land around it which represents more swamp land but is much more structurally sound and easier to build more advanced infrastructure on. In Falsemire is Kleevaughn Palace, the home of the royal family, as well as Wagwulf Building, where the members of parliament meet to discuss matters affecting the entire country. While the Braubarese people don't typically concern themselves too much with the affairs of other countries, finding their lives satisfying enough with the resources they have, they could not help but pay attention to what happened to Jamuur just across the ocean. Since then, they elected to shift away from a classically aristocratic country to become a constitutional monarchy with a parliament elected by the people, and for the people. This led to an economic boom for the country, people suddenly becoming more able to climb up the social ranks and better make a name for themselves. Ostax Located on the Northern coast of Arwyl, sprawled out from the Northern marshes all the way to the Western coast, there is Ostax. This country is much more quiet and isolated than any of the others on Arwyl, with some political scientists arguing that they may be the most isolated country on the world. This is, in part, due to their less than orthodox political structure - one that makes modern day Jamuur seem extraordinarily free in comparison. Unlike other countries, Ostax is ruled by a group of adventurers who claim to be enacting Veotl's will, doling out justice as they see fit. On the furthest Northwestern point is Dawncairn, a city that is little more than ice and stone for most of the year. Though many deem this country to be uninhabitable for this very reason, millions still live in Ostax, with tens of thousands living in Dawncairn, believing these harsh climates to bring them closer to their god. As such, Dawncairn is built around a cathedral devoted to Veotl, the clergy living closer to the cathedral while the poor living scattered around the outer edges. An interesting thing to note about Ostax is that this is the one country in the world where the factions are not involved in, for multiple reasons. While the Pontifs of Ostax outlawed many of the factions on the basis of finding them contrary to Veotl's teachings (such as The Belfry and the Silver Cloaks), other factions chose to disavow Ostax for the sake of fairness and equity (such as the Gold Helms and the Maester Academes). Cruara Locked between the mountains, the ocean, the swamp, and the forest, is the Queendom of Cruara. While it is small, this hardly stopped the Cruarians from being proud of who they are, and working as a neutral zone if there should be any disputes on Arwyl. As such, while the other countries focus on bettering themselves, Cruara is perfectly located for helping the countries around them should they ever need it. Whether this is because of conflicts between Ostax and Kamery, or even between conflicting factions or merchants, Cruara is well known for having a certain air of tranquility to help conflicting parties reach compromises. Though it is called Southbreach, the capital of Cruara actually sits on the Northern end of the lake. Here, the Queen lives in Edoelian Palace, a large castle with numerous arbitration halls - some of which can comfortably host as few as two people and up to a hundred people should the need arise. Though some Cruarians were initially concerned that this was a waste of space, it quickly became evident that the arbitration halls not only filled up quickly given that people are constantly looking for other people to solve their problems, but also that this meant that local businesses experienced exponentially more service during times of arbitration, meaning the entire country benefited from these meetings. Obreyca Obreyca exists within the sole forest of Arwyl. This landscape meant that they created a more unique method of infrastructure than the other countries on the continent, many of the towns located far above the ground level. Though many people find this height intimidating, preferring to stay closer to the ground where they could feel more comfortable, others enjoy the thrill of the heights, choosing to create their homes as far away from the ground as possible. Earthcross, the capital of Obreyca, is precisely in the middle of the forest, a mixture of buildings on the surface and in the skies. The Parliament of Owls, the government that presides over Obreyca lives here along with the Royal Family, the former in the canopy while the latter is still on the ground floor. This was set up as a belief that the Parliament of Owls looked over all of Obreyca while the Royal Family was merely a face for the government to appease the people. These novel architectural methods led to people not only flocking to Obreyca to observe and admire the sights, treating the entire country as a tourist attracting, but to more eccentric people calling upon Obreycans to use their out of the box thinking for their own personal purposes. As such, Obreyca found that they did not need to rely too much on forestry, a practice that would be sure to cut into their real estate, but instead on training the brightest architects in the land. Politics With the exception of Ostax, every country in Arwyl is an aristocracy. Each of these ruling families believe beyond a doubt that they were given divine right to rule over their respective countries, and as such try to rule in such a way that is deemed legitimate not only by the people but also by the gods. How they seek their legitimacy, however, varies extraordinarily between each of the countries. Though most of them are monarchies in the most classical sense, with a typical class structure with the Crown at the head, deciding who is and isn't allowed nobility, Braubar and Obreyca stand out as being constitutional monarchies. In these two countries, there is still the Crown who signs off on laws, but Parliament determines what should and should not be considered entered into law. Ostax, however, is a theocracy with a focus on Veotl, the Just. As such, instead of a ruling party, there is a group of Head Priests who determine the law of the land. Though they claim to follow a God of Justice, they see his will as a more retributive justice, and the laws of the land reflect that.